1984 - Original Score: A Passage to India – Maurice Jarre Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – John Williams * The Natural – Randy Newman The River – John Williams Under the Volcano – Alex North Original Song Score: Purple Rain – Prince The Muppets Take Manhattan – Jeff Moss Songwriter – Kris Kristofferson Best Original Score

1989: The Little Mermaid – Alan Menken Born on the Fourth of July – John Williams The Fabulous Baker Boys – Dave Grusin Field of Dreams – James Horner Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – John Williams *

Interesting that you don't agree with any of the Academy's winners for that decade. Personally, I think the winners selected for the years '81, '82, '84, '85 and '87 were the right choice.

I can see where you are coming from on most of those, but I do not think Chariots of Fire or Last Emperor were best scores. They are good scores, I own Chariots. But to me there were better scores. In many of these cases 'prestige' pictures won. The Academy loves a Chariots of Fire or Passage to India picture postcard kind of movie, or at least they did at that time. I actually did not realize I disagreed so much until I made the list. On some of them like ET or out of Africa I understand why the won, they hit the right emotional buttons. There is little question that ET is much easier to 'digest' for most people compared to Poltergeist, and likewise Out of Africa. It also helped that ET was one of the most successful pictures ever made. People would disagree I am sure, but often the decisions in one category are connected to a lot of other perceptions about the film, the stars, the director, the themes of the picture.

1980: Altered States 1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark 1982: Poltergeist/One from the Heart 1983: The Right Stuff/Yentl 1984: A Passage to India/Purple Rain 1985: Silverado 1986: The Mission 1987: The Untouchables 1988: The Accidental Tourist 1989: Field of Dreams

With the exception of 1988 and 1989, when I would've nominated and awarded Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Alan Silvestri) and Glory (James Horner), respectively,, the nominated scores included my personal picks for the 1980s. My actual nominations would've looked a lot different, however:

1980 Altered States (John Corigliano) The Elephant Man (John Morris) The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams) The Final Countdown (John Scott) Somewhere in Time (John Barry)

1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four - The Music of Oceania (Dominic Muldowney) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (John Williams) The Natural (Randy Newman) Nausicaä from the Valley of the Wind (Joe Hisaishi) Once Upon a Time in America (Ennio Morricone)